Thursday, January 28, 2010

Transcript of Obama's State of the Union speech
Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the president shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They have done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they have done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.

The Republican response to Obama's State of the Union speech by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell

I'm joined by fellow Virginians to share a Republican perspective on how to best address the challenges facing our nation today.

We were encouraged to hear President Obama speak this evening about the need to create jobs. All Americans should have the opportunity to find and keep meaningful work, and the dignity that comes with it.

Many -- many of us here tonight -- and many of you watching -- have family or friends who have lost their jobs. In fact, 1 in 10 Americans is unemployed. That is unacceptable.

Read and listen to the Pundit response to President Obama's State of the Union

Laura Ingraham's State of the Union response

Laura's 'State of the Union' Address - January 27, 2010
LAURA INGRAHAM: The State of our Union is imperiled because we knowingly went down the path OF Obamanomics, Obama's approach to foreign policy and basically an absentee approach to the culture - where life is dispensable, Hollywood is coddled and its party time USA every Wednesday night at the White House. The State of our Union is imperiled.

Rachel Maddow- Building on the State of the Union
RACHEL MADDOW: The list of pecific proposals the President made tonight. A lot of them are very conservative ideas. Ideas that have been auditioned politically in recent years by Republican politicians. Things like off-shore drilling, capital gains cuts, business tax cuts, the spending freeze, so-called "clean coal". Terminology that makes me just want to cringe. Singling out earmarks...

VIDEO: Rush Limbaugh's State of the Union response

My Letter to President Obama
RUSH LIMBAUGH: I penned a message to Obama that I would like to deliver now. Because Mr. Obama, I think it's time we had a heart to heart talk. Let me be the father that you never had or never really knew, because I think you need some guidance. It's time to man up. It's time to grow up. That speech last night was an embarrassment. You couldn't focus, you lashed out in all directions, you refused to accept responsibility for your own actions, and you were angry.

And he was, folks! He was mad. Being president is a big job. It's a big responsibility. You wanted the position, Barack. You campaigned for it...

The Rock, once speaker at the Republican National Convention appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live recently. Kimmel complimented The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) on his amusing impersonation and The Rock shared with the audience his interactions with President Obama and the First family.

VIDEO: The Rock On Jimmy Kimmel!

(Says President Obama told him Michelle had a crush on Dwayne Johnson)

Jimmy Kimmel Live with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson (January 21, 2010)
JIMMY KIMMEL:Has he seen your impersonation of him, which is great by the way
DWAYNE JOHNSON (THE ROCK): Thank You. He has, he has. I got the word from the White House that he really enjoyed it. Its one of those things, I go on Saturday Night Live - its "The Rock Obama".

Our President is a former athlete and its all done within that spirit of locker room and guys poking fun at each other. What I do is what he would love to do which is throw a lot of Republicans asses through the window. That's what we do on Saturday Night Live.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Keith Olbermann responded to Jon Stewart's critique of him by replaying Stewart's skewering of him in its entirety and sheepishly apologising. Olbermann also referenced an earlier parody that Ben Affleck did of him for SNL in 2008.

KEITH OLBERMANN: Well yesterday Mr Stewart was first critical of Rachel [Maddow] and then last night of me... seriously Mr Stewart's critique of me won't mean much unless you see it so I will show it in a moment with 2 prefaces only

1) Jon you invited me on the show in 2003 and I said I couldn't make it because of the taping time. It didn't mean I couldn't make it forever. What, you can't pick up the phone and make a jingle?
2)I think it should be noted that when Affleck did this he didn't have a teleprompter. That guy was a technician like Rembrandt was a technician.(Daily Show clip played in its entirety)

You want some baseless name-calling? You are... You know what? You're right.I have been a little over the top lately. Point taken. Sorry.

Jon Stewart once mocked Glenn Beck by parroting the manic conservative pundit's patented monologue. Stewart recently did the same for Keith Olbermann, mimicking his brand of self righteous speech. This isn't the first time Stewart has chided Olberman.

Transcript via InOtherNews
"For years, sir, your outrage was warranted - based in fact, saturated in reason; marinated in malice, but tenderized with the cleaver of careful consideration, once wielded so masterfully by the demigods of discourse whose very chair you sit (in): Murrow, Cronkite... You fought your fight, and you fought it furiously and forthrightly. But is it a fight, if ill-foughten folly? Ferhaps. How far, sir, how far will you fall once you’ve toiled in the fields of the factual, equal parts punditry and profundity, with prodigious prose? It was as powerful as it was purple.

But now, this! Now, this, sir! This, sir! This, sir! And, no, sir, this TelePrompter is not stuck! I am doing something called repetition for dramatic emphasis, sir - you invented it. I like it. But now, you’re just calling people names.

To whit, you said this of Joseph Isadore Lieberman, Democrat, Connecticut: "A senatorial prostitute"; of Roger Ailes, "fat ass"; Chris Wallace, "a monkey posing as a newscaster"; Rush Limbaugh, "a big bag of mashed-up jackass." (All right - I’ll give you that one.) And of Michelle Malkin, you said "A mindless, morally bankrupt, knee-jerk, fascistic mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it," end quote. That, my fine-feathered friend, sounds a lot more like violence against women than anything Scott Brown ever said.

You can’t resort to childish attacks that are as hominem as they are nauseum. You’ve ceded the high ground and now you wallow in the fetid swamp of baseless name-calling, and as you know, sir, that’s my thing… A man of your intellect need not be me - petty, pompous, pusillanimous - or poopyhead."

Impersonations have their home in comedy sketch shows like SNL and are a staple in punditry, these theatrics are also found in politics as Hillary showed last year mocking Candidate Obama. Not to be outdone wrestlers are also fond of using impersonations to get the psychological edge over their opponents.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

It looks like I may have to update this Palin/Obama comparison graphic to include new political sensation, Republican Scott Brown.

The parallel between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin

The Daily Show has had the best coverage highlighting the similarities Brown has to Palin and Obama - Charismatic, photogenic, relatively inexperienced young faces brought in on a platform of change, perceived as celebrities moreso than politicians.

How Well Do You Know Scott Brown?
*His old nickname back home in Wrentham, Massachusetts is "Downtown" Scotty Brown, referring to his famed jump shot from his days as a star hoopster at Wakefield High School.

*Speaking of hoops, when President Obama called to congratulate him on his victory, Brown challengedhim to a game of 2 on 2 hoops. Brown said his team mate would be his daughter Ayla, a star basketball player at Boston College.

Air America
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.

The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America's business. This past year has seen a "perfect storm" in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection.

Air America alum Sam Seder shares his thoughts on the company that launched him whilst providing its share of tumult

Contrary to the conventional wisdom Air America failed not because there was no market for liberal talk (all the big lib talkers still on air Miller, Schultz, Hartmann, Malloy and Rhodes are profitable or close to it)- it was because Air America owners- there were 5 in 6 years- listened to so-called radio consultants who were nearly hostile to the format but more relevantly stuck in the paradigm of a dying industry. Thats how you hire Lionel or Montel and fail to monetize your podcasts and online content.

Sen. Franken hasn’t lobbied for a bailout, as far as we know. But don’t breath a sigh of relief yet. They’re still swinging the Fairness Doctrine noose. When they can’t compete in the marketplace, the Left will use the power of government to squash their competitors.

Update: January 25, 2010
Sam Seder appeared on the Brian Lehrer show to chat about the demise of Air America

And so it goes
I did a segment on WNYC about Air America,- it was pretty frustrating- it's always wonderful when people who don't do their homework are more than happy to push the most obvious and least informed narrative.

Go to the WNYC site and listen to the full conversation with Sam Seder and Ana Marie Cox here - Air America Folds

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

NBC institution 'Saturday Night Live' reemerged to relevancy in 2008 with their lampooning of that year's Presidential Election circus. A key target at that time was Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, astutely played by Tina Fey. Fey's portrayal infiltrated the wider culture so effectively that Palin's image was hijacked and became unfairly informed by her caricature.

Glenn Beck recently hosted Sarah Palin on his program. In his conversation with Palin, Beck challenged Saturday Night Live to invite Palin and himself as Feature Guests for the comedy show. Beck, an avid comedy nerd and born entertainer would be an able fit for the program and we here at the APF are certain that Beck would likely consider it a career highlight.

Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin Offer to Co-host Saturday Night Live
BECK: ...It is so weird to see yourself on "Saturday Night," isn't it?
PALIN: It is weird.
BECK: It's just bizarre. Sarah and I would like to make an offer to NBC. Would you like to make the offer?
PALIN: I think that we should co-host. How could they say no?
BECK: They will.
PALIN: I bet they won't.
BECK: Want to make a bet?
...
BECK: They think they can make fun of us? I can make fun of me better, yes.
PALIN: They have no idea some of the things. Yes.
BECK: So, yes.
PALIN: Yes.
BECK: So we'll, NBC, there you go. It will be a very highly rated show I'm guessing. We'll make fun of us and give you guys the time off, where you don't have to make fun of us and we'll co-host the show.
PALIN: That would be a delight. I would do it. And if they're daring enough, they will say, yes.

For us at the APF it was a memorable moment simply because whilst many wrestlers have appeared on Pundit Programming, this was the first time a pundit had appeared on a Wrestling show.

- View a complete list of entertainers who have Guest hosted as General Managers for WWE's RAW - WWE Special Guest Hosts
- Read WWE's summary of the December 14 'Slammy Awards RAW' hosted by Dennis Miller - Dennis Anyone?

Live Audio Wrestling "The Worst of 2009" - Jan 10, 2010
JOHN POLLOCK: I went with Dennis Miller because going into this I knew there was gonna be problems with it. Dennis Miller is someone at least who is a very good live performer and I have a number of his DVDs and stuff like that. This was a 'RAW' that just completely fell apart and I've never seen an edition of WWE where they've completely acknowledged that this was falling apart. You had [WWE Chairman] Vince come out and literally say "Some hosts are just better than others" while staring at Miller.

His opening monologue was just terrible. You could hear crickets. He comes out "Well we're in hour 18 of tonight's extravaganza". It was just to me a terrible show. The 3 hours dragged. And Dennis Miller - huge thumbs down.

Watch an example of Dennis Miller's "not-so-Award-winning" segments from his guest spot on WWE's Raw.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

We here at the APF are big fans of JibJab. The cutout aesthetic. Their world-famous political toons, with pundits always getting major screen time. Their kickass animations and brilliant sense of humour. Not to mention JibJab's comprehensive behind-the-scenes blog features. What's not to like?

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Wrestling meets Politics 2010 edition. Any casual wrestling fan will know that 2010 has started with a bang with the surreal and improbable return of Bret Hart to WWE and the game changing arrival of wrestling icon Hulk Hogan to TNA.

TNA have aptly appropriated the Obama 'Change' posters for Hogan's campaign to reinvigorate the #2 wrestling brand 'TNA Total Nonstop Action Wrestling'. Its a clever use of the Obama iconography considering the abundance of parodies that have flooded the culture.

Incidentally the APF has done some appropriating of its own, but of Hulkamania's own iconic branding. The infamous 'Huckamania' Mike Huckabee Wallpapers.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

A Message from Rush to His Listeners
To my listeners,
Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts over the past several days. Today, I am leaving Queens Hospital in Honolulu, feeling strong and rested. I offer my deepest thanks to the staff and administration there, who provided excellent care and supervision.

I'm going to take several days of rest over this weekend and the early part of next week, and will be back on the radio with you sometime next week, taking the advice of so many of you to rest and fully recover.

I wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year in 2010!
With great thanks for your support and love,
Rush Limbaugh

Read heartfelt comments from Hotair's Ed Morrissey

Prayers for a friend
As I said before, politics is a tough business, and we all sometimes fall into the trap of making arguments personal. We often forget that the people we either hail or deride are human beings, with virtues and foibles not unlike our own. I offer this not as a remonstration to anyone, but just as a way to give people a personal perspective on a man who has become a friend and a mentor over the years, and whose generosity and spirit may not be as widely known as his opinions. Say a prayer for Rush and for his family, and if you can’t do it for the political commentator, do it for the friend.

I've often highlighted the comparisons between pundits and comedians. Pundits, like comedians are ultimately masters of their own fiefdoms. They create loyal followings of people supportive of their idol's world perspective. The fans of the comedian or pundit will usually share their affinity with their friends and associates and likewise share their animosity towards their rivals.

Whilst its expected across party lines i.e a liberal pundit dissing Rush Limbaugh's "dittoheads", there are also internecine feuds amongst conservative and liberal listeners. The most prominent of this is between Conservatives Mark Levin and Michael Savage, both pundits stir their passionate supporters into deriding their respective rivals. Whilst Levin and Savage have a heated rivalry between each other they also impassion their listeners against other competing conservative pundits.

During Comedian Jimmy Pardo's 'Never not Funny' podcast. The host Jimmy spoke to fellow comic and APF pundit Marc Maron, they discussed the listeners of fellow Comedian and Podcaster Adam Carolla and used an interesting pundit analogy to describe his belligerent fanbase. Carolla's fans are known for haranguing "rival" comedians on Carolla's unsolicited behalf

'Never not Funny' Episode 610 - Marc Maron
JIMMY PARDO: This is a horrible comparison... I would listen to Rush Limbaugh... I didn't always agree with what he said. Most of the time I didn't agree with anything he said. but to me he was an entertainer...

MARC MARON: (assisting) Engaging

PARDO: He was engaging, he would keep me company for 4 hours and he was fine. I didn't mind him. It was when the asshole callers would call in and they would just be "Why is the President feeding us lies" then Rush would say "You're wrong sir, here are my thoughts. Like everybody thought they would call up and kiss his ass, you know "Mega dittoes". Then he would say "No you're misunderstanding everything I'm saying"

MARON: (completes his sentence jokingly) "I did not say kill the President"

PARDO: Right (laughing). He's not the same now than he was back then mind you. Then he was just a broadcaster, now he truly thinks he is changing the world...

MARON: Now he's a monster

PARDO: and its the same with Carolla. I think Adam is a terrific broadcaster. He's got funny in his bones... he doesn't have to fake being funny. He's got it. But his listeners -- Not all of them! Some. I don't want to get those emails. A small percentage of them are these neanderthal idiots like - "You suck. Listen to Adam instead". You can listen to both. There's no rule that you can't listen to both.

MARC MARON: I like Adam. I've not listened to his show a lot. I did his show once years ago when Bonaduce was on and I'd love to do the show again. And I've got no problem with him but there's always this weird thing like "You're just doing Adam". And I'm like I don't even know what Adam does for the most part...

MATT BELKNAP: He gets some heat in certain circles for being a little conservative

MARC MARON: He probably calls himself libertarian though. Anyone who calls themselves libertarian are just Republicans who are little scared to say they're Republican now

BELKNAP: But I think that's what people want. They want to see you, you're political slant but the same style -- not the same style but the same energy go up against his energy

MARON: I'd love to do that because I don't even know what his politics are and I'm not really doing political talk anymore but I'm not aligned with any political party necessarily but I do think some things are righteous and some things aren't and I'd be curious to talk to him about that. I think I'd actually like to.

I keep doing this on podcasts, I'm like "I'm out on the streets man (laughter). Let's go Carolla!

About the Author

Hello my name is Jim, I'm a graphic designer by day and APF commissioner by night. I've always been a fan of analogies, this is just my most ambitious. A whole blog proving that Politics and wrestling are one and the same.
If you would like to contribute or make a suggestion to the APF
Email me at pundit.fight[at]gmail.com
Alternatively if you'd like to commission some editorial illustration work.
Email me at pundit.fight[at]gmail.com